Software question..help computer people

“My computer was messing up and HP had me do a non-destructive system recovery. That got my computer fixed but now my whole Microsoft Office is wiped out. Afterwards they tell me that I can't recover it. I don't have the software anymore and can't function without Excel and Word. I have windows XP OS. Any help?????”

“Did you buy MS Office?”

“UHHHHHH....yeah.....well...maybe.......yeah”

“yeah right...lol

looks like a trip to the store for you”

“No, i can't afford that..It's too expensive.

I could buy a ton of gear for what I'd have to pay for that.”

“....and if you can't work, how you gonna pay for all that cool gear?”

“Is it possible to buy an older version off of someone who upgraded to the new version?”

“I'll figure a way to get the gear.

But man I really need those programs. I can't do proposals without them..”

“Don't know anyone who has the old version or the new version.”

“do you know anyone who has it and will let you download it”

“I don't know anyone who has it .”

“It's only $220 here. That's the small business edition, which should be what you need.”

“You can find shareware that is compatible with the Office formats and works very well.”

“Ya don't know anyone with MS Office?? SHEESH!! The world functions on MS Office. I don't know where you work, but can't you burn a CD of it here?

You don't necessarily need the newest version, either, right? Does e-bay still let people sell stolen copies? Also, isn't there some program like Kanza or something, where you can access other people's programs off their computer? (never done it; I would have virus concerns)

It's always good to maintain friendships with people who have access to these things. *wink* I love my Photoshop and Pagemaker programs.

How old is your computer? I would think if it's under warranty that the HP dudes would give you the program, especially if it had come preloaded on the computer when purchased. I have system recovery on my Compaq. It seems like if it were the "non-destructive" kind, you shouldn't have lost the program. Sounds more like they had you WIPE your hard drive clean.

Another idea... **IF** the hard drive was not wiped... On my computer I can do a "system restore." Go pack to some previous point in time and restore the computer to that point. I think you keep all your documents, etc, but go back to the programs you had at the time you return to.

Might wanna check into that. Two things could happen:
1. You go back to a time when your computer was functioning fine, PRE problems. Cool....
2. You go back to the time of your more recent computer problems. Too bad....

Just ideas.....”

“Great input.

it didn't come preloaded on computer.

I didn't have a restore point on my computer. I will from now on though.

I'm a little worried about the virus issues with other software.

I work for myself now. Sure wish I had access to get a copy of this.”

“brandon...e-mail me...i have a copy of office XP and 2000...msg me or opie1979@yahoo.com”

“i wear an eye patch and have a peg-leg...my parrot died though..and i'm always looking for booty...lmao”

“What are you, a rap artist?”

“Anyone have any advice on monitoring software? I want a program to track my daughter's online use, especially Instant Messenger. I read the PC Magazine review on Spector Pro and it sounds like what I'm looking for although the $100 price tag is a little steep (but worth it, I guess).

1) Is this my best choice?
2) Is it available anywhere cheaper?
3) I read this review which gives me some second thoughts about giving up information to Spectorsoft. Comments?”

“PC Magazine review.”

“From that review, it would seem to be the correct choice for monitoring your daughter's Internet activity, if it weren't for the troubling aspect of it's communication with SpectorSoft Corp. on a regular basis. It doesn't seem like it's sending a lot of data though. You might try giving them a call and asking them what data they are getting from your computer, and is there any way to turn off that feature. If they clam up, I'd look for another product.”

“Wonder if Binks got his software stuff figured out....”

“I think that OPIE helped him out with that...”

“Thanks bit.”

“Violin??? Questions on such a thing????

With you wizardry, just set it up that if she goes off on a certain internet path, that she gets one of YOUR virus pages!!! PROBLEM SOLVED!!! Lmao!!”

“LOL lizs. Actually she knows quit well that I can see where she's been, cache or no cache. She's a really good kid but silent conversations trouble me.”

“For what it's worth, I'll be doing the same thing when my daughter's a teen, V.”

“i was just going to ask if she knew you were Watching.

from what you've seen on Trail Talk, why would silent conversations trouble you?
;-)”

“in truth If you cant trust your kid online without supervision then dont allow it. If your worried about her chatting with dirty old men may i suggest a web cam ? Girls tend not to go to porno sites ect but boys are a different story. Keeping the computer in a public area tends to help remove a lot of temptations also.”

“The computer is in the family room. In the words of Ronald Reagan: Trust but verify.”

“if it's in the family room, and it's a good kid, i'd say your going way overboard..but i'm still a kid so i guess i'm on the other side of the coin...but i turned out alright..
how old is your daughter, whats her IM name...can i cyberdate her?...LMAO..sorry man, just trying some levity?..Let her chat with her friends, explain to her about us freaks out here, and watch if her pattern of phonecalls change (please don't tap these too)..and if you do put this program on...tell her, don't do something to erode her trust in you, and yours in her.”

“Hey Violin, check out the reviews at cnet.com. they have user reviews as well as editors picks for that stuff.”

“Thanks Phaed. I tried at ZDNet (related site?) and got frustrated. Half the reviews for any particular software says it stinks and will crash your system, screw up BIOS, cause nuclear war and the other half rave about it. Its hard to know which are written by employees of software companies.

Opie - duly noted.

bit - Thanks for the suggestion. I called Spectorsoft. They said all that was sent to them was info to determine how many machines it was installed on. Can I believe them? hmmm...”

“Depends on the size of the packet. If they were sampling your surfing habits, for instance, the size of the packet would be large, and would likely vary in size, depending on how many sites were visited. On the other hand, it's a little odd that they are continually sending a small packet just to figure out their installed base. The only reason I can think of for that is that they want to know if someone discontinues use of their product.”

“Here you go, violin. This one is free to try, and someone has posted a bunch of serial numbers so you can get the full version for free (were you so inclined - not that I'm advocating piracy of software).”

“Good point about the need for more than one communication bit.

Thanks Phaed, I want something a little easier to read than screen shots. Spector 2.0 does basically the same thing and is also free to try.”